


Hazelnut Whirl

by matildajones



Series: Tumblr Fics [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-04 03:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2908547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matildajones/pseuds/matildajones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A box of chocolates makes its way into the wrong hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hazelnut Whirl

_Strawberry Cream_

 Derek sits alone in the library, the streetlights on outside and the night greying. He thinks about packing up, heading home through the drizzle to where he can curl up under his covers and fall asleep, pretending he doesn’t have an alarm to go off the next morning.

 He’s about to leave when someone drops down in front of him, all legs, his knees hitting the underside of the table. Derek looks up and glares, but a pretty face sits there, a reddish tinge on his cheeks and his lip bitten almost raw.

 “Hi,” he says. “Hey, um, you are Derek Hale, right?”

 Derek stares at him before nodding slowly.

 The guy’s shoulders deflate with relief and he nods, eyes wide before he ducks his head for a second. He rubs the side of his neck until it turns a nice red, grinning widely before staring back at Derek again. “Cool,” he breathes. “I wasn’t sure – you know, all I got was a name and I had to ask around. But thanks. Yeah.”

 He blushes deliciously and Derek is a little taken aback by the stranger, by what’s coming out of his mouth, by how nice he is to look at, by the way he sinks forward a little and their knees touch. It’s warm. Derek would stay, maybe, just to watch the guy eye him eagerly, but he doesn’t know him at all and he’s tired.

 Derek stands up. “I have to go,” he says, voice awkward.

 “Oh, um. Right.”

 Derek looks back over his shoulder as he leaves, watching the way the guy’s face moves into disappointment.

…

  _Vanilla Butter Caramel_

 It’s early afternoon, the weather decent for once, the sun streaming through the hallway as students make their way between classes. Bodies bump into each other with the rush, something Derek’s had to get used to, and he makes his way to the edge of the crowd.

 A hand tugs at his sleeve and he flinches, looking up to see the same guy from the night before. His eyes are scrunched up slightly as he looks Derek over, but his gaze is warm, a caramel colour staring back at Derek.

 “Hi,” he says, running a hand through his hair. He has to step closer to let the crowd move around them. Derek swallows.

 “Hello,” Derek echoes, unsure.

 He waits for the guy to continue, narrowing his eyes when there’s silence. A few people stop and call out the guy’s name – Stiles – and he waves at them as they pass by. Stiles’ face breaks out into a nice smile at what must be his friends and then he turns back to Derek.

 “Are you – are you just going to say nothing?” the guy asks incredulously.

 “What do you want me to say?” Derek says a little too sharply. “You stopped me, remember?”

 Stiles scowls. “Really?” he says. “Really?”

 The people have left and Stiles takes a step back, the sunlight falling on his face. His skin is bright, dotted with lovely brown moles, and Derek wonders what’s going on. He’s not against others – Stiles – talking to him, it’s just that no one talks to him if he can help it.

 “You know, dude,” Stiles says, still backing down the hall. “You’re giving me pretty mixed signals.”

 Derek frowns. “I haven’t said anything.”

 “Yeah, you haven’t.” He sounds annoyed, turning on his heel and rushing away. Derek looks at the clock, swearing quietly to himself before rushing to his next lecture.

…

  _Cherry Heaven_

 Hands scramble at him, scratching at Derek’s chest hair above the line of his shirt. Derek knocks Stiles’ hands away, trying to lurch back except he’s pinned against the bathroom door. Beer sloshes near their shoes until Derek grabs the drink and steps around Stiles, pouring it down the sink.

 When he turns around Stiles is right up close to him, cheeks red with alcohol and eyes bright with it too. “It’s okay,” he says, hands on Derek’s shoulders, squeezing slightly over his leather jacket. “I – you, you must be shy. You don’t have to be shy. I think you’re pretty, you – you look very pretty tonight,” he slurs a little.

 “I’m not shy,” Derek snaps at him, trying not to think too much about how Stiles locked the door before sneaking in close, or how nice it is to feel Stiles’ body heat against him, or how long and beautiful his fingers are. The problem is that he doesn’t know Stiles very well at all, needs to understand why he’s suddenly coming in on Derek’s life.

 Stiles laughs, one hand trailing down Derek’s chest until they stop at the loops of Derek’s jeans. Derek swats him away.

 “You are, because you’ve noticed me but you don’t say anything when you’re around me,” he bites his lip. “It’s okay, I noticed you too.”

 “Stiles –”

 “Mm?”

 Derek holds out some water. Stiles rolls his eyes and takes the cup Derek managed to fill while Stiles petted at his chest and he drains it instantly. He licks his lips and Derek is drawn to the movement, his heart stuttering when Stiles smiles shyly.

 “We don’t have to stay here,” he says, “we can go back to my dorm.” He lifts a finger and because Derek’s too distracted to stop it, Stiles reaches up and drags it down his lips. He giggles. “Your teeth are so cute.”

 “No they’re not,” Derek glares, snapping out of it. Stiles’ eyes look glassy as he stares at Derek.

 “Your mouth, man, I bet your mouth would feel like heaven on me.”

 Derek blinks, not stopping Stiles as he leans forward and their noses brush a little. Then Stiles’ head droops forward and lands on Derek’s shoulder with a thump. He rubs his cheek against the fabric and stays there, unmoving, and he grumbles when Derek says his name.

 He doesn’t know Stiles, doesn’t know him well at all, doesn’t know why he seems to know who Derek is. He can’t find any of his friends at this party, anyone he’ll be safe with, and with a sigh he drags him upstairs to an empty bedroom, Stiles leaning against him.

 He leaves the door open and Stiles falls to the bed instantly, snatching a pillow before he falls asleep. Derek kicks himself for noticing how pretty he is, even with his mouth parted against the pillow, and Derek hopes Erica won’t be mad for letting someone sleep in her boyfriend’s bedroom.

 After a while he falls asleep too. When he wakes, there’s a note saying thank you and nothing else. He’s not sure why he’s disappointed.

…

  _Peppermint Cream_

 They share a business class together. Derek definitely has noticed Stiles now, struggles to pay attention to the class when he spots him in the room. They don’t talk. Stiles seems embarrassed when Derek catches his eye, always with an odd look of disappointment on his face.

 Derek doesn’t know what he did. It’s a like a stranger came into his life and then tore himself out again.

 After class one day Stiles nods coolly at him as he passes by. It’s a lot different to the way he greets the rest of his friends and Derek wonders if he did anything wrong, if he crossed some sort of line. He’s had people act cold around him before, everyone’s had that, but Stiles is so warm and loud with everyone else.

 The weather gets chilly and he bumps into one of Stiles’ friends, the one with curly hair and dark skin. He looks Derek up and down. “I don’t get you, man,” he says. “Why did you change your mind and turn down Stiles?”

 “He was drunk,” Derek hisses.

 “He wasn’t drunk before that.”

 Derek blinks, staring at the guy and wondering when he had made up his mind let alone changed it. It’s not nice, having something like this settle over his skin and he doesn’t know what it is or what he can do about it.

 The friend sighs. “Look, you didn’t have to start something with him you weren’t going to finish.”

 Derek glares, pulling his textbooks closer to his chest. “I didn’t start anything.”

 “You – you, what? You sent him the chocolates!”

 He stares him down with a blank look. The wind picks up and fills the silence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 Derek gets peered at and when it gets too much he shrugs and turns around. He feels oddly empty when he thinks of Stiles, like something finished before it began. Confusion is all around, sharp, but it all seems to make sense when Stiles confronts him the next day.

 “Recognise this?” he asks, almost bitterly. He holds out a small card in his hand and sceptical, Derek takes it. With a tired look he stares down at the small print. _For a special someone. Derek Hale._  He doesn’t remember these words but over the other side of the card is a logo he does recognise.

 “Shit,” he says, rubbing his face. He looks up and Stiles looks pissed. “I, uh. Where do you live?”

 “In the dorms at the east side of campus. But you clearly already knew that,” he says, irritated.

 “My friend Erica lives there. She’s room 303. I sent them to her for her birthday. I chose one of the generic messages, a random one, I didn’t really look,” Derek tells him.

 Stiles blinks a few times before things click in his mind. He flushes. “Oh,” he says. “Oh. The blonde girl. I’m in room 308. I thought, I thought – never mind.”

 Derek swallows, throat dry, watching the way Stiles fumbles about. He glances at the card once, still in Derek’s hand, before he rounds the corner. Derek doesn’t stop him leaving.

…

  _Classic Fudge_

 It takes him a few weeks to go back to that gift store. He hasn’t seen Stiles around. Derek chooses a larger box of chocolates, the one the store is known for, the one that couldn’t mean anything other than romantic. He deliberates writing a custom message but doesn’t know what to say.

 He chooses  _I’m thinking of you_  and Derek writes Stiles’ dorm number very, very carefully. As he hands over the order slip and the money he cringes at himself, hoping that things will work out. He’s thought about Stiles more than he cares to admit.

…

  _Hazelnut Whirl_

 Stiles is out of breath by the time he catches up to Derek. The box of chocolates is tucked under his arm and he thrusts the card out to Derek. “Is this – is this meant for me?” he asks through his panting. Derek wonders how far he ran.

 “Yes.” Derek smirks and Stiles scowls at him.

 “Just making sure,” he says, scuffing his shoe on the ground. He looks up at Derek with hopeful eyes. “Want to come back to my dorm and share these with me?”

 Derek hesitates, looking at the time on his phone. Stiles’ face begins to fall so Derek hastily shoves the phone in his pocket and nods, figuring that it’s okay to miss one class. “Okay,” he says.

 It’s worth it when Stiles brightens, grinning a little and shuffling closer. “Can I?” he asks, “can I just?” Stiles leans in and there’s enough time for Derek to stop Stiles from cupping his face and bringing their lips together.

 It’s a little shaky, but it’s sweet and soft and Derek wants more. A hand rests on Stiles’ hip, moving around his back and holding him closer. Their mouths part against each other, Stiles becoming more eager and Derek wanting to do anything but stop him, but the box of chocolates falls to the ground.

 Stiles lurches away, bending down to pick them up. “Um,” he says. “Good chocolate selection. I approve.”

 Derek gives a small smile.

 They walk shoulder to shoulder down the small hill in silence. He feels Stiles’ nervousness rattle through him and Derek doesn’t know why he does it, just knows that he wants to feel Stiles against him again. He pushes him against the door of his dorm room the moment it closes, Stiles’ surprised breath over his lips before they kiss.

 The box of chocolates stay forgotten at their feet. 

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [tumblr](http://matildajones.tumblr.com). Come say hi!


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